Book Reviews

Reviewed by Lynley Capon

Editor's Note: A different review also dealt with this book on February 21, 2008. Readers may wish to compare the two reviews.

Best known for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, Mark Haddon also wrote another entertaining novel, A Spot of Bother (2006, Vintage Books, 432 pages). He starts this, his second novel for adults, in a rambling, confused style that reflects confusion in the main character's mind.

“It began when George was trying on a black suit in Allders the week before Bob Greene's funeral. It was not the prospect of the funeral that unsettled him. Nor Bob dying. To be honest, he had always found Bob's locker-room bonhomie slightly tiring and he was secretly relieved that they would not be playing squash again. Moreover the manner in which Bob had died (a heart attack while watching the Boat Race on television) was oddly reassuring.... it would have been painful obviously. But one could cope with pain.... No, it was the lesion which had thrown him.”

While trying on the trousers, George Hall notices a lesion on his hip, and he panics. A 61-year-old retiree from a playground-equipment production company, he obsesses that he's dying of cancer. Overcome with fear, he wanders out of the shop wearing the trousers without paying for them. His troubles start then.

Haddon uses plain language effectively. Initially, his lack of embellishment helps the story to advance at a sedate pace. Gradually and imperceptibly, events quicken. For the first half of the book, readers have a feeling of not really getting anywhere. As the story progresses, events turn farcical and meld into a satisfactory conclusion.

George has a wife, Jean, and two adult children, Jamie and Katie. While George's life spirals out of control, Jean has an affair with, David, a former work mate of George's, Jamie goes through torture hiding his homosexuality and Katie prepares to remarry, this time to a man no one in the family considers right for her. The family members can't speak truthfully to each other, and so confusion and misunderstandings rule. Haddon reveals the deceptive nature of just about everything the family does.

“He decided not to mention the incident to Jean. She would only want to talk about it and this was not an appealing proposition.... The secret of contentment, George felt, lay in ignoring many things completely....
Six o'clock.
He slid out of bed and went downstairs. He put two slices of bread into the toaster and took down the espresso maker Jamie had given them for Christmas. It was a ridiculous gadget which they kept for show for diplomatic reasons.”

When writing from George's viewpoint, Haddon uses ideas that jump around to show the state of George's mind. The inner narrative for this character bounces from present tasks to past events to anxieties for the future.

“But it felt good now, filling the reservoir with water, pouring coffee into the funnel.... oddly reminiscent of Gareth's steam engine which George had been allowed to play with during the infamous visit to Poole in 1953. And a good deal better than watching the trees at the far end of the garden swaying like sea monsters while the kettle boiled.
The blue flame sighed under the metal base of the coffee maker. Indoor camping. A bit of an adventure.
The toast pinged up.
That was the weekend, of course, that Gareth burned the frog....”

When Katie visits George and Jean with her child, Jacob, and husband-to-be, Ray, George gets so anxious that he wanders off to the studio he's building. Katie thinks it is an affront to her marriage plans and throws a tantrum, something she often does.

Realizing something's amiss with George, Jean sends him to a doctor. “George sat in the car outside the surgery, gripping the steering wheel like a man driving down a mountainside. The lesion felt like a manhole cover of rotten meat under his shirt. He could see the doctor or he could drive away. He felt a little calmer just putting it like that. Option A or Option B.
When he finally got out of the car, it was because he could no longer bear his own company in such a confined space.”

Waiting for the doctor, George calms a little and mentally bats around various points about Ray that might (or might not) be sufficiently good for marrying Katie. “Ray was good with children. Well, good with Jacob at any rate. He could fix things. Or thought he could.... Either way, it wasn't sufficient recommendation for marriage. He had money, a sufficient recommendation, certainly, but one which you could only add as an amusing aside once you'd established that you liked the chap....”

Meanwhile, Jamie debates whether to tell Katie she's marrying the wrong guy while struggling to form a decent relationship himself. Chapter by chapter, the story moves between characters with George's progression into a total mental breakdown as the pivotal point. Unraveling of Jean's affair with David coincides with a realization of George's importance to her. Ray becomes a key person to solve the family's struggles to face truth, and Jamie finds love by reconnecting with a former partner.

This all sounds a little trite, but the humor of each absurd situation often made me laugh out loud. Haddon achieves a masterful study of human nature and inter-personal relationships. His insights are astute and funny. Once you get into it, A Spot of Bother becomes a book you don't want to put down.

Approval rating: 79 per cent.

For more information: www.markhaddon.com or www.vintagebooks.com.